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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24263797">Under the Lights</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeorin/pseuds/kaeorin'>kaeorin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Loki's Lullabies [54]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Avenger Loki (Marvel), Bars and Pubs, Dancing, F/M, POV Loki (Marvel), Protective Loki (Marvel), Reader-Insert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:02:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,634</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24263797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeorin/pseuds/kaeorin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When the whole team goes out to a club one night, Loki isn’t thrilled but goes along anyway. At least it means he can keep his eye on you.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki (Marvel)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Loki's Lullabies [54]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678240</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>240</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Under the Lights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You were not his responsibility. He had very little to do with you. Sure, there’d been more than a few times that you’d joined him in the sitting room with a book of your own, or that you’d brought him a cup of tea seemingly just as he was starting to wonder if it’d be worth it to go make one. You were friendly. And it seemed to go beyond friendliness simply in relation to the rest of the team, who mostly still gave him wary looks if he spent too long in the same room as them. You seemed to <i>like</i> him. He’d never know why: at best, he’d only ever been civil to you. He knew that, at his worst, he could be downright nasty.</p><p>Tonight, he was feeling rather nasty. Stark had arranged for a ‘Night on the Town’, as he’d called it, and Thor had thrown himself enthusiastically on board. Although a significant portion of the team felt absolutely no effect from Midgardian alcohol, every last one of them (Loki under great duress) piled into the stretch limo that showed up outside the Tower and bustled off to a large but exclusive nightclub.</p><p>Stark was greeted with fanfare and fawning attention. Alcohol flowed freely, and it was hard to tell how much of it came from admirers in the bar and how much from the bar itself. In any case, although Stark was likely the richest man in the city, he barely had to pay for a single drop. </p><p>Thor had brought along a large flask of Asgardian mead, and passed it around to the super-soldiers. By the time Loki got his hands on it, there was very little left. It was disappointing, but hardly surprising. He handed it back to Thor without a word and sat back in his seat. Fine. Tonight, he would be the one soberly watching the rest of you cavort and giggle. If he allowed himself to get too drunk, who knows what he might say.</p><p>He glanced around the bar. It was, predictably, dark inside, with barely enough light to keep staff and revelers from colliding. The music, such that it may be called, was loud and pulsing, almost throbbing. There was almost no melody to it, but, given how many people here were dancing and grinding against one another, perhaps a melody was not what they were interested in.</p><p>You tried to make conversation. You were sitting close enough that you could brush your fingertips over his knee to get his attention, and when he was just distracted enough not to be able to wipe the glare off of his face before he realized who had touched him, you didn’t seem put off. You gestured for him to lean down a bit so you could reach his ear, and, when he did, the feel of your breath against his skin distracted him from the words you were trying to shout at him. Your breath smelled like whiskey. You pulled back and looked at him quizzically, but he’d only managed to give you a flat look and an apologetic shrug. </p><p>He’d almost hoped that you’d try again, and maybe put your hand on his shoulder to drag him back down to your level, but you hadn’t. You bit your lip, released it thoughtfully, and smiled at him.</p><p>After a while, Romanoff took your hand and pulled you out onto the dance floor. She’d been nursing the same drink since you’d all arrived there. Clearly she was not particularly interested in dulling her senses with alcohol the way most of the others had. A giggling Maximoff grasped your other hand to follow the two of you—she didn’t quite have the same reservations that Romanoff had, apparently. He found himself watching a little too intently you found a spot large enough for the three of you to dance together. </p><p>The conversation around him faded into the din of noise that filled the club. He kept his eyes on you even as writhing bodies surrounded you and attempted to hide you away. You were not nearly as far gone as, say, Thor, but it appeared that you’d had just enough alcohol to loosen your inhibitions. Had Loki ever seen you dance like that? He’d stolen glances in the gym, certainly. He’d sometimes find himself studying your form as you trained against a teammate or worked out on your own. You were solid. Respectable. You knew how to use your body to fight and defend. </p><p>But here you moved almost like poetry. Obviously there was no threat to you here, and certainly not while you danced beside Natasha Romanoff. You spun and gyrated and moved to the music in such a way that you started to attract attention. Perhaps too much attention. Boys tried to join you. Of course, here on Earth they were of age and seen as men, but Loki couldn’t help but think of them as mere <i>children</i>. They sidled up behind you and dared to put their hands on your hips. They took your hands and pulled you close so they grind against you in simulated intercourse.  Loki’s hand tightened painfully on the edge of the table as he watched one such fool lower his lips to the side of your neck just as the crowd came back together to hide you once more from view.</p><p>“Doin’ okay over there, Lucky? You look like you just watched somebody piss on an Asgardian flag.” Loki had discovered that, as Stark’s drunkenness increased, the wittiness of his nicknames tended to decrease. He looked away from the last place he’d seen you only to catch the annoying smirk on Stark’s face.</p><p>“There <i>are</i> no Asgardian flags.” Maybe he could keep Stark off-balance like that, keep him from focusing on what Loki had actually been watching.</p><p>Indeed, Stark only shrugged knowingly and raised a glass in Loki’s direction. “That is probably a wise decision.” Thankfully, Bucky distracted him with a fanciful description of some hypothetical prosthetic prototype for his arm, and Loki was left alone again. He wrapped his hands around the glass in front of him. If he let himself lose control while holding <i>this</i>, he’d give himself away. He tried not to search the crowd for your face again. He didn’t particularly care to see what else those boys allowed themselves to do to you, but he wanted to keep an eye on you anyway. All he saw was Wanda leading Natasha back to the table.</p><p>When they arrived, Wanda picked up a glass of water from the table and drank it down thirstily. He tried not to watch. He liked the girl well enough—she could be quiet and thoughtful like you—but he couldn’t help but resent her a little. She had similar origins to Loki himself. She started out fighting <i>against</i> the team on the side of an enemy. But Natasha looked perfectly content to twine her fingers with Wanda’s right now, and she never looked at her suspiciously.</p><p>“You’ve left a man behind,” he heard himself say in a gap of silence between songs. “Where is she?” You know, not that he <i>really</i> cared.</p><p>Indeed, Natasha looked at him through narrowed eyes, and a slow smile crept across her face. “She’s doing just fine,” she assured him in that tone of voice she had which left no room for conversation. </p><p>“She’s having a good time!” Wanda nearly shouted. Her eyes shone at him in the flashing lights. “You should have a good time, Loki!”</p><p>“Don’t you think you’re having a good enough time for both of us?” Even as he said it, he regretted it. He was not usually the type to make someone feel ashamed for enjoying themselves. He liked to party as much as the next Asgardian. It was harmless. But, surrounded as he was by the rest of the team as they slowly spiralled down into drunkenness, he was getting annoyed. </p><p>If Wanda was hurt by his tone, she gave no sign of it. Instead, she took his hand and tried to pull him to his feet. “No! Let’s both have a good time! Come on, I’ll show you!”</p><p>Loki did not miss the calculating look that Natasha gave him. He knew she’d be trying to gauge his reaction, figure out how close he was to exploding with anger. So, rather than pulling away, he gave in to Wanda and let her drag him out to join her. He did not look back over his shoulder to see how the team had responded, because of course he didn’t care. Probably.</p><p>Wanda pulled him back into the teeming mass of humanity and danced around him. He stood out a bit, being a bit taller and a bit stiffer than the rest of the people dancing. He tried to work on that. Wanda kept his hands clasped in hers, which limited their dance moves a bit, but he found that he almost appreciated it. It was grounding, almost.</p><p>Several more boys approached her there, but Loki took immense satisfaction in the way nearly all of them froze and paled when they met his eyes. Each of them backed away from her again. Now if only he could do the same for you.</p><p>He scanned the crowd above Wanda’s head, sharp eyes searching for your familiar form. Finally, a couple made their way towards the bar and, before the crowd could close the gap they left behind, he saw you. There were several boys surrounding you, their hands searching and grasping. You looked up at one of them and said something, but of course your words were lost to Loki. He laughed and seemed to give a reply which made your eyebrows furrow. After that, you did not turn your back to him, and you did not dance particularly close to him, either. </p><p>Loki kept an eye on you. He knew very well that you were not his to protect. Hell, you were more than equipped to protect yourself, so even if he <i>did</i> have any claim to you, you didn’t need him.</p><p>Wanda kept him moving. As time wore on, and the songs kept changing, he found that he was no longer quite so stiff. There was something about the brightness in her eyes and the animation of her face as she shouted conversation up towards him that even made him want to smile. It was not <i>her</i> fault that the others trusted her more than him. He lifted her hand into the air and spun her out away from him as the current song came to a close, and she gave a little hop of excitement when she realized what had happened. </p><p>“Are you thirsty?!” she shouted. “I’ll go get more to drink!” But when she let go of his hand, she stumbled a bit. Loki laughed and grabbed her to steady her, then pointed her back in the direction of the table. It was closer than the bar.</p><p>“Better not, love. Go sit down. I’ll get the drinks.” He nudged her in the right direction, and she went along with it. So he went to the bar instead.</p><p>He placed his order and then leaned against the bar to wait. Someone a little ways away caught his eye. Through the crowd, he saw that boy—the one that had upset you—also leaning against the bar. The smile on his face set Loki’s teeth on edge. A barkeep gave Loki his drinks just as another gave the boy his. Loki watched him reach into his pocket for something and drop it into one of the glasses. He swirled it around for a little while. If Loki was not mistaken, he could see something dissolving into the bright pink drink. He felt his eyes narrow. The boy looked up, scanning the room as though checking to be sure no one had seen what he’d done, and then turned to head back towards the dance floor.<br/>Loki left his drinks sitting there at the bar and took off after him. He’d heard enough, read enough, to have a pretty good idea just what that fool was trying to do. He pushed through people dancing and flirting and laughing with each other and watched in horror as the boy approached you and tried to hand you the fruity drink. He shouted your name, but you had no chance of hearing him over the noise here. </p><p>He moved a little faster, and thanked the stars that you did not immediately take a sip. Instead, you held the glass for a while. There was an awkward smile on your face, like you knew you should be grateful but were uncomfortable instead. Finally he broke through the crowd and stepped close enough to put his hand on your waist.</p><p>“You drink it,” he commanded, before reaching to take your drink from you and hold it out towards the boy. “She drinks whiskey. That one’s yours.” The boy scoffed and looked for a moment like he thought Loki was joking, but he kept his face cold and stony, and gestured towards him with the drink. “Go on. Drink.”</p><p>Something in the boy seemed to give way, and he brought the drink to his mouth with a trembling hand. He took a sip and tried to put it down again, but Loki only arched an eyebrow at him. He drank it all. Loki knew that the queasy look on his face, the almost greenish cast to his skin, was not caused by the fruit juice in the drink. He watched him for a few more moments, eyes burning through him. The boy glanced towards the washrooms, then back at Loki, like he was asking for permission. Loki denied it with one quick shake of his head.</p><p>From beside him, he could feel confusion coming off of you in waves. You put your hand on his, where it rested against you, and squeezed his fingers. It made him tear his eyes off of that boy and, as soon as he did, the boy took off through the crowd. There was so much more that Loki wanted to do to him, up to and including torturing him to death, but he let him go when he caught your eyes. You smiled and tugged him down to your own height, all but pressing your lips against his ear so he could hear you.</p><p>“I like fruity drinks too!” you said with a soft laugh. “I didn’t mind it!”</p><p>He pulled away and studied you carefully. He didn’t want to ruin your night, but you deserved to know, didn’t you? He sighed and then it was his turn to press his lips to your ear. You smelled lovely and clean. Maybe he drew in an extra-deep breath of the scent of you.</p><p>“He put something in it. I watched him.”</p><p>You jerked backwards with a look of horror on your face. How could you do the kinds of jobs that you did and still look so shocked when you discovered that there were bad people in your world? Maybe Loki took a minute to admire that about you. When you pulled him down again, you did not put your mouth on him but you did keep your arms wrapped around his neck. You were embracing him. You held him so tightly that he felt your muscles start to tremble. He put his arms around your waist and hugged you back. Loki opened his eyes only to fix the other boys around you with a level glare, and they all held up their hands and melted backwards into the crowd. He let his fingers splay wide against your back. Maybe you were not his responsibility, but he’d gladly keep you safe.</p>
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